After a moment, Lina pulled back. "You're too tall," she complained while rubbing the back of her neck. After considering briefly, Lina sat up and turned so that she was kneeling, straddling Gourry's legs. She draped her arms over his shoulders. "Much better," she whispered huskily into his ear and experimented with kissing his neck the way he had kissed hers earlier. Gourry groaned in a way that brought her a great deal of satisfaction, but at the same time made her feel incredibly antsy. She sat down on his legs and ran her hands down his arms, bringing his fingers up to her lips, gently kissing the tips.

"Lina . . ." Gourry closed his eyes and his free hand worked under her cloak and ran up and down her back. Lina decided she liked the way he said her name in a voice thick with arousal. She released his hand, and it immediately snaked behind her, pulling her close and giving her a direct demonstration of exactly how hard his armor was.

"Ouch! Your breastplate is in the way!" Lina rubbed her nose in irritation. Then she reached behind Gourry and started fumbling with the complex set of buckles that kept his armor in place.

Gourry grew very still, and then he grasped her arms at the elbows, pulling her hands away from their task. Lina pouted briefly, then her eyes grew unfocused. "Unlock," she whispered, and Gourry's armor fell to the ground as the buckles suddenly came undone. Lina ignored Gourry's startled yelp, and with a wicked gleam in her eye and a smug look of self-satisfaction, she ran her hands over Gourry's chest, smoothing out the creases his armor had left in his shirt. "Much better," she murmured, and then she reclaimed his lips. It was just like the first time, when they had kissed in the Sea of Chaos. Lina suddenly realized something, and she pulled away, looking at Gourry speculatively.

"What?" There was a slight flush on his cheeks, and his eyes were very clear and bright.

"Well," Lina paused, "you know how you said this was where we kissed for the first time?"

"Yeah?"

"Where was your armor?" She rapped a knuckle against his chest.

"Hunh?"

"You weren't wearing your armor." Lina closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body close, and laying her head against his chest to hear the steady thump of his heart. "It felt just like this, no clunky metal in the way."

Gourry's hand moved through her hair as she listened to his heart beat. When he didn't answer her question, she leaned back. "Hey, anybody in there?"

Gourry looked down. "I'm trying to remember . . . I guess it must have been when I followed you into that black ball . . . I had to force my way through and stuff was flying past me all over the place. I didn't pay much attention, though . . . I was trying to catch you . . ." Gourry's arms tightened around her. ". . . but you were always right out of reach."

She remembered again that wave of despair that she had felt, making her resist the urge to lose herself in the Sea of Chaos. She reached up and stroked his cheek, "I think," she said slowly, "that it was your pain that made me come back from the Lord of Nightmares. Everything I had done, casting the Gigaslave, had been to save you. It wasn't right that you should still be suffering."

"Lina, it means nothing without you, don't you understand that?" Gourry swallowed convulsively. "You dying to save the rest of us, to save me, it's not worth it. You would save me for nothing."

Lina felt herself go cold and tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, I'm the heroine, don't you know," she jabbed him in the ribs. "I'm supposed to do heroic stuff like sacrificing myself to save my companions."

Gourry sighed. Then he offered her a weak smile. "Well, I'm the heroine's protector, and I'm supposed to make sure she doesn't get herself killed doing heroic stuff."

Lina suppressed the urge to giggle. "I don't really need a protector, you know."

Gourry regarded her skeptically.

"Well I don't," Lina insisted defensively.

"What about 'that time of the month'?"

Lina shrugged. "Usually it isn't much of a problem, I just hang low for a few days until I get my magic back." She tapped him on the nose. "I may be the heroine, but that doesn't mean I'm always involved in bone-crushing struggles between good and evil." Lina paused. "And, it wouldn't even be a problem if we had found the 'Essence of Burundi' like I'd wanted to."

"The what?"

"The 'Essence of Burundi.'" Lina stared over Gourry's shoulder at the moon, then turned her attention back to him. "It's a magic item similar to the Reefler we went after once."

Gourry looked at her blankly. "The Reefler?"

Lina huffed in exasperation. "Yes, the Reefler. Remember? It was a magic device that stored a spell until someone else touched it. We found it in some old ruins, but it was guarded by a bunch of golems that kept chasing us all over the place. Finally, I cast a Dragon Slave on it and tossed it back at the golems. Sound familiar?"

Gourry's eyes unfocused as he looked up, considering. "Didn't your spell wreck it though?"

"Yeah," Lina sighed in regret at the memory. Then she got excited again. "But the 'Essence of Burundi' is rumored to be able to store multiple spells. That could really come in handy . . . What?" The last was directed at Gourry, who was grinning.

"You're talking to me again, Lina," he said happily, smoothing a lock of hair away from her eyes. "You're talking to me just like you used to."

Lina blushed. He was right in one sense. She hadn't felt so comfortable with him since before they started this trip to Sairaag. But his comment reminded her of where exactly she was, that she was actually closer to him than she had ever been, with the exception of that one time in the Sea of Chaos. She realized with a start that their physical closeness hadn't changed everything. She had always thought that love and friendship were two different things, or at least that romantic love was different from friendship. That was one of the reasons she had hesitated to change things, even when Amelia and Martina had suggested that there was something more between her and Gourry. She didn't want to change the friendship they had. But here at this moment, she wondered if she had been wrong, because it felt right to be so close to him, to feel his hands in her hair, his fingers caressing the back of her neck. It felt right, but it was not enough. The clear, almost glassy look in Gourry's eyes made her want more. She leaned forward and draped her arms over his shoulders. "Now, where were we?" she whispered huskily.

Gourry cocked his head. "I think we were talking about the 'Cents of Rubundi'," he said with a straight face.

"Gourry!" Lina glared at him, and willed her fists to unclench.

"But Lina, that's what you were talk . . ." Lina cut him off with a kiss, which he eagerly returned. Then Lina felt his lips part and his tongue invade her mouth. She smugly noted that a kiss seemed to shut him up more effectively than putting him in a headlock, not that she would ever kiss him in public, in front of other people. But here, where it was just the two of them, she didn't have to worry about what others might think.

It did not take long to recapture the mood interrupted by their conversation. Lina ran her hands up and down Gourry's back as he clasped her body close to him, placing both arms around her shoulders. One hand caressed the nape of her neck, while the other slowly stroked lazy circles down to the small of her back. She nibbled on his lower lip, then down his chin and along his jaw line. When she reached his ear, she softly exhaled while kissing along the cords of his neck, until she reached the top of his shirt, and then she returned to his lips. Gourry's hands moved from her back to her sides, stroking up with a touch that began feather-light, but grew bolder when Lina tightened her thighs around Gourry's legs and pushed herself up and closer to him. Her breath began to come faster, and Lina gave herself up to the sensations coursing through her, not thinking, just wanting the pleasure of Gourry's touch to go on forever.

Gourry was also breathing harder, and as he shifted beneath her, Lina began to feel powerful and giddy, so similar, and yet also different from the way she felt even when casting the strongest spells. Gourry was the one responding to the summons of her lips, tongue, and hands. She longed to master the power coursing through her, to channel it and bend it to her will as she would the forces of magic. But as enjoyable as it was to be so physically close to Gourry, closer than she had ever allowed anyone to be, it wasn't enough. She couldn't focus the heat that was pooling low in her abdomen the way she would shape energy from Dark Lords or an Elemental Spirit. In fact, the more she tried, the weaker it became. She snarled in frustration, and kissed Gourry so deeply that she was gasping for breath when he gently pulled away. To Lina's surprise, he picked up the glove he had removed earlier, and after kissing the center of her palm, he started putting it back on her hand.

"Gourry?" Lina pulled her hand back as if it had been burned.

Gourry stared down at the glove he still held with an expression of intense concentration. Then he stood up abruptly, unceremoniously dumping Lina in the process. "We have to stop. Now." He tossed her glove into her lap and started to put his armor back on.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Lina couldn't believe that he was pulling away from her, and as she clenched her hands into fists, she realized that her earlier promise might be tested sooner than she had thought.

Gourry was having a hard time with his armor. It clattered a great deal, and Lina noticed that his hands were shaking. He finally gave up on it, and threw it over his shoulder. Then he jumped off the pillar and held out his hand to help her down. Lina slowly stood up, realizing that Gourry wasn't the only one shaking. She stubbornly held her ground, placing both hands on her hips. "What's going on?" She refused to move until she got an explanation.

"Lina . . . I . . ." His expression was hidden in shadow, but his voice sounded strangled. "If I . . . if we don't . . . we have to now, 'cause . . . I can't . . . I won't . . ." Gourry took a deep breath and tried again. "Give me your hand."

As he stammered in near-incoherence, Lina's irritation cooled slightly and slowly shifted to concern. She tried to understand his request, but she still wanted an explanation. "Why?"

"Just give me your hand," he repeated. His eyes were still hidden, and she noticed that he was trembling slightly. Slowly she extended her hand. Gourry moved much faster, and before she could retract the hand she had so cautiously proffered, Gourry had pulled her off the pillar and into a rough embrace, kissing her firmly. Lina was caught off guard, but in spite of her annoyance, and somewhat to her surprise, she found herself enthusiastically returning the kiss. Gourry broke off abruptly releasing her completely. "That's what I mean."

Lina struggled to stay upright. She was breathing hard, and she felt light-headed and confused. She tried to sort out the mixed signals she was getting from him. It seemed like Gourry understood something that she didn't, and for once, she felt like the idiot of the two. It was a distinctly unpleasant feeling. He was watching her, breathing just as heavily as she was. Lina swallowed heavily. It galled her to admit it, but if she wanted an explanation . . . "I don't understand." She tried to decrease the distance between them.

"Lina." Gourry's hands clenched tightly around her shoulders, maintaining the space separating them, and he drew in a shuddering breath. His entire body was tense, and his face was intent with concentration. "We have to stop now, because if we don't, I won't be able to stop."

"What's wrong with that?" She ran her hands suggestively up his forearms, hoping he would take her in his arms again. "You started this, Gourry Gabriev. Don't you know that you should always finish what you start?"

"Here?" Gourry's voice broke as he gestured to the ruins around them. "I have every intention of finishing this," Gourry unconsciously licked his lips, his words low with intensity and frustration, "but I'm not going to tumble you in the ruins of Old Sairaag for the world and any fool to see!"

The implications hit Lina like a physical blow, and for the first time since Gourry had pulled her into his lap and started his assault on her senses, her mind was working furiously, considering the situation. Before, she had been lost in the moment, eagerly answering the demands of her body for more and oh gods, more. And if Gourry hadn't stopped it, she wasn't sure how far it would have gone. Because she wouldn't have been content for long to explore him through the rough cloth of his shirt and pants, not when she longed to feel his flesh beneath her fingers. Not after she had experienced the flood of power that coursed through her and pooled deep in her belly as he groaned her name. No. She wouldn't have stopped. Her body was still thrumming, although not as insistently, but was it what she wanted? She could allow Gourry to pull away, and lead her back to Sylphiel's house. And things could remain as they were, they could follow their normal routine, and maybe nothing would happen. Maybe that would be better. Maybe the anticipation would drive her wild. Or, they could finish what had been started, as she had so blithely put it, and make their partnership truly complete, an open acknowledgement to the devotion they had pledged to each other: Gourry, when he had so casually stated he would go on protecting her for the rest of her life, and Lina, when she had sent her plea to the Lord of Nightmares on Gourry's behalf.

Reflections were completed in brief moments, and Lina made her decision. "So, you plan to tumble me?" Her hands were cocked on her hips, and her eyes glinted dangerously, although the hint of a smile ghosted about her lips.

"No!" The denial was immediate. Gourry took a deep breath, "I don't want something quick and casual. I want to love you, Lina." Gourry grasped her hands gently and brought them to his lips. His eyes were pleading for understanding. "In a place where we can take our time and I don't have to split my attention between you and everything around us. Where I don't have to worry about keeping you safe. Where I can focus on you and only you."

Gourry's attention to her hands brought all the demands and desires that had started to fade back in full force. Lina dropped her "offended maiden" act and sighed in pleasure. Oh, how she wanted him! Lina gently removed one of her hands from his grasp and stretched up to stroke his cheek. "I would gladly give myself to you," she whispered. In fact, she already had, in so many different ways. She paused a moment, then continued in a normal tone of voice, "but you're right, and this is not the time or place." She turned to pick up her glove and started pulling it back on, controlling the shaking of her hands through pure force of will.

Lina heard Gourry sigh behind her, a sound that was both relief and regret. "No, this isn't the time or place . . ." He trailed off, and Lina turned to see him gazing off to his left, where a light was moving towards them in the distance.

Lina suppressed the urge to echo Gourry's sigh. Instead, she moved to his side, placing her hand in his. "But when it is the right time, the right place," Lina looked up at him, "I'll be ready." Before he could answer, Lina cupped her free hand and shouted, "Hey, Sylphiel! We're over here!"

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Author's Notes:  I thought chapter 13 would have been a good place to end the story, but it turns out that I have one more major plot thread to tie up, which will happen in the next part.  Thanks to Flarn for insisting that I take the story a little further, and to Stara Maijka for beta reading this chapter!

The Reefler is a magic item that Lina and Gourry go after in the manga story arc, "Super Explosive Demon Story" which roughly follows the same plot as the first TV season.  I just made up the "Essence of Burundi".